


The Birthday Car

by Kujo1597



Category: Infinity Train (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, It's not one you'd hear on 6Teen or Roboroach though, There's literally one swear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:53:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23913379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kujo1597/pseuds/Kujo1597
Summary: Sometimes passengers have a birthday while on the train. Tulip was one of them. Somehow the train always knew the birth dates of all the passengers and had its own way of celebrating with them. Although maybe it wasn't ideal for everybody... But it's the thought that counts.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 43





	The Birthday Car

Tulip woke up at whatever o’clock. There was no way to know the time on the train. As had become habit Tulip pulled out her notebook and added another line to her box tallies. She wasn’t sure exactly how accurate they were since on some cars night and day blur together. 

But if the count was accurate then...

She started to tear up and rubbed her eyes hoping Atticus and One-One wouldn’t see and then got up to start her daily routine. This car happened to have a nice stream in it that would be perfect to drink from and wash her face.

As Tulip looked into the river she saw her reflection, it almost seemed as if it had some pity mixed in with the sadness that Tulip was feeling. 

“Do I feel pity for myself?” Tulip thought. “Whatever.”

Tulip brushed her teeth then brushed her hair, and eventually rejoined Atticus and One-One.

“Good morning Tulip,” Atticus said cheerfully. “It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?”

“Morning Atticus,” Tulip tried to sound cheerful, she didn’t want to concern him. Besides, there were other things more important to worry about than potentially missing a special day.

“Happy birthday Miss Tulip!” One-One said brimming with energy. 

It took a moment for Tulip’s mind to register One-One’s greeting. “How did you know?”

“I ‘unno,” One-One gave his standard reply whenever he was asked about his weird knowledge or skills.

“Well, thank you,” Tulip’s smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. 

“It’s your birthday? What a momentous occasion,” Atticus wagged his tail. “How old are you now? Three? Four? Or! Even six! You are quite wise.”

Tulip laughed. “I’m fourteen.”

“Fourteen!” Atticus gasped. “That’s as old as some of our elders!”

“I’m actually pretty young for a human,” Tulip said as she pet Atticus on the head.

“Legends in Corginia have spoken of beings that never age within a corgi’s lifetime,” Atticus said. “I wonder if those beings were humans.”

“Probably,” Tulip said with a shrug. She stood up and stretched out. “Are you guys ready to move on?”

She was.

Tulip hoped the next car would help take the sting away of celebrating a birthday without any parents or Mikayla. Or cake.

The group walked to the door and Tulip opened it. Normally in between cars Tulip liked to try to guess what the next one would be.

She was never right, of course. The train was too unpredictable. But it was something fun to do.

No part of Tulip even began to guess what was behind the door.

It was a car with lots of cake in it and balloons absolutely everywhere, and a strangely high amount of mirrors and other reflective surfaces.

“Oh just rub it in, why don’t ya?” Tulip thought bitterly.

“Look at all that cake!” One-One said. “Did you know that if you push cake hard enough it will fit in any container?”

“I did not know that,” Tulip replied. “I don’t have anything to push the cake into though.”

“You have a backpack, and some pockets” One-One said.

“Mmm... I’ll think about it,” Tulip lied. 

Atticus chased around some balloons as Tulip scanned the car for the door. She didn’t spot it however. So she called Atticus over and started walking through the car.

“Aren’t you going to go celebrate?” One-One asked. 

“Celebrate what?” Tulip tried her best to not snap at One-One, she wasn’t sure if she succeeded or not.

“Your birthday, silly.”

Tulip groaned, it didn’t feel like a birthday, there were no parents, and no Mikayla. Just-

-two great friends. 

“You’re right, it is my birthday maybe I should celebrate with some cake,” Tulip said.

“Happy birthday!”

A voice that sounded largely goofy, but also vaguely threatening came out of nowhere. Tulip was able to make out the silhouette of a classic clown. She didn’t particularly mind clowns.

But this clown, yeah something was wrong with it. The clown’s smile stretched farther than any human’s could and there were just too many teeth.

“I hear somebody turned the big one-four today,” The clown said, his mouth unmoving. “I’m going to make you that many balloon animals.”

“Uuuhhhh... No thanks,” Tulip decided that maybe celebrating in this car was the wrong decision. Most denizens were nice, but that clown gave off a dangerous vibe. 

Neither One-One nor Atticus seemed to feel the same way however. They were watching the clown as he blew up balloons with a pump and twisted them into shapes that vaguely resembled multiple types of animals. Tulip had to admit it was actually kind of impressive.

“Do you have any requests?” The clown asked. 

Tulip could have sworn she saw her reflection recoil in horror. But that must’ve been her imagination.

“I guess I’d like a penguin,” Tulip said, then she wondered if that was too ambitious. 

“Coming right up!” The clown started twisting the balloon and in a classic clown-move he popped the balloon.

But it didn’t make a normal popping sound, it sounded more like a scream...

“Actually you know what,” Tulip waved her hand. “I don’t need a penguin balloon- just make whatever you want. They’re all good.”

“I’m not sure I like this denizen anymore,” Atticus whispered to Tulip. 

“Me neither,” she whispered back. “But One-One does.”

“Maybe we should just ask where the door is then politely leave,” Atticus suggested.

“Good idea,” Tulip quickly agreed, she addressed the clown. “Excuse me, I’m actually headed somewhere. Where’s the door for this car?”

“You have to eat cake to find the door,” the clown replied. “And you can’t eat cake until we sing Happy Birthday to you.”

“We?” The last thing Tulip wanted was more clowns.

“Yep!” The clown ‘cheerfully’ replied, he put fourteen balloon animals on the ground and pulled a conductor’s baton out of who knows where. “Okay boys, you know what to do.”

The balloon animals all started wailing out the most cursed rendition of Happy Birthday Tulip had ever heard. Strangely her reflection looked like it wanted to nope the fuck out of there. Tulip wondered if she also looked like that, and figured she must’ve. She felt bad for the clown.

“And at least a couple more,” One-One followed up the birthday song.

“Oh that’s great, thaaaanks,” Tulip clapped.

“Now to blow out your candles, make a wish,” the clown produced a cake from the same mysterious place as the baton.

Tulip made a wish, and blew out the candles.

“What did you wish for?” One-One asked.

“I can’t tell you, it wouldn’t come true,” Tulip replied.

Her wish was to figure out the mysteries of the train.

“Now it’s time for cake,” the clown said as he sliced off a piece for Tulip.

Atticus was about to bite into some cake and Tulip stopped him.

“Up-bup, chocolate check,” Tulip cut into it with her multi-tool and it was vanilla. “Okay you’re good.”

“Thank you Tulip,” Atticus munched on the cake. “You might one day save my life. Or at least prevent a serious tummy-ache.”

With a smile Tulip pet Atticus’ back. She noticed One-One shoving cake into his face, he didn’t have a mouth so all he accomplished was getting sticky. But it was still cute.

The clown passed a plate with a slice of cake and a fork to Tulip, his smile was staring to look less threatening.

The cake itself was delicious, it was moist and the icing wasn’t overly sweet. Tulip easily finished her slice and figured why not have a second. That one was chocolate and also good.

“Would you like another song?” The clown asked, ready to conduct his symphony of balloon animals.

“No thanks!” Tulip’s answer was instant. She was getting more used to the clown but those balloon animals were the worst. Nice to look at, but not to listen to.

One-One started to swim in the largest cake in the car and Tulip watched him while laughing. His antics warmed her heart and made things sting less. And Atticus indulged in another few bites of cake.

Tulip grabbed one of the balloons and decided to play a little game with Atticus, One-One, and… the clown. The goal was to not let the balloon hit the ground.

Or pop.

Atticus was surprisingly good at the game, his legs were short but nimble. One-One had the most difficult time due to his small size. Eventually he started hitting the balloon by launching half of himself at it. Predictably it was the clown who lost as he intentionally popped the balloon.

“Oh whoops,” he said over the unnerving sound. “Congratulations Tulip! You win! And now…”

The clown made a noise like a drumroll.

“You can get your door. Thanks for playing with me!”

“Thanks for hosting my party,” Tulip said with a wave.

Her birthday wasn’t her ideal one, but Tulip still had fun regardless. She had two wonderful friends on the train to celebrate with. She walked out the door.

“Did you enjoy your birthday Miss Tulip?” One-One asked.

“I did,” Tulip replied with a genuine smile.

“I’m glad,” One-One said, with what Tulip had started to assume was a smile of his own.

Before closing the door Tulip heard the clown popping all of the balloon animals. The birthday was overall nice but…

“Let us never speak of that clown again.”

**Author's Note:**

> Don't worry about Lake. Even the flecs understand that clown is really creepy and have a protocol for birthday incidents. :p
> 
> Anyway, I was working on this for a while, and then I found out that it might be fanfic number 100 for Infinity Train. And honestly, I just thought it would be funny if Disconcerting Clown went up on such a milestone. See, I have no fear of clowns so I find him hilarious.


End file.
